Lynn Pasquerella, Ph.D., president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), will speak as part of the Conversations for the Decade Ahead series on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Her talk will take place in Boileau Hall at 1:30 p.m.

Pasquerella has previously served as a college president at Mount Holyoke College among other key positions in her decades-long career in higher education.

A graduate of Quineberg Valley Community College and Mount Holyoke, she received her doctorate from Brown University. Pasquerella joined the faculty in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Rhode Island in 1985. While at Rhode Island, she rose through the ranks and held positions including vice provost for research, vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the university’s graduate school.

She was named provost of the University of Hartford in 2008. Two years later, Pasquerella was appointed the eighteenth president of Mount Holyoke. Her tenure as president was noted for its outreach to local, regional and international stakeholders, a strong strategic planning process and commitment to sustaining Mount Holyoke’s vibrant campus community.

Pasquerella has written widely on medical ethics, metaphysics, the philosophy of law and public policy. She is a member of the boards of the National Humanities Alliance and Lingnan Foundation and holds a seat on the advisory board of the Newman’s Own Foundation. She has received honorary doctorates from Bishop’s University and Elizabethtown College. Pasquerella is also the host of Northeast Public Radio’s The Academic Minute.